Schön Klinik (Germany)

Schön Klinik is among the largest, family-owned hospital groups in Germany. Every year, 88.000 patients are treated in 16 clinics. The hospitals specialize in the medical fields of orthopaedics, neurology, psychosomatic medicine, surgery, and internal medicine and employ 8,500 doctors, nurses, and therapists. Schön Klinik is dedicated to measuring treatment outcome and has developed its own, specialized quality management system.

Every year, more than one million data points are collected and compared between hospitals. By analyzing this data the hospitals are able to further improve their therapies and improve the patients’ experience. This quality management system has been met with international recognition.

A high degree of specialization ensures an extraordinary level of quality. At Schön Klinik more than 12,000 patients with back pain and 5,000 patients with depression are treated every year.
Schön Klinik is the leading provider of psychosomatic medicine in Germany and has developed internationally renowned therapies for patients with eating disorders.

The optimal treatment for every patient is a top priority. The hospital group strives to meet this objective with excellent physicians, treatment methods based on the latest scientific research, and a friendly, caring atmosphere.

MasterMind services

cCBT:

The German MasterMind trial offers patients three internet-based treatments for depression. The involved health professionals are mainly psychologists with a background in CBT.

The main component of first two services is the combination of cCBT sessions and video-based consultations with an Online-Therapist while the third is a guided self-help treatment.

Patients who are considered eligible for the treatment are adults suffering from depression.

Depression Online:

The patient needs a referral from the GP or medical specialist (psychiatrist or neurologist).

From then on, patients can receive 25 sessions of a combination of 50-minute video-based consultations with their online-therapists and cCBT elements on the platform

Relapse prevention:

After an inpatient treatment the patient is offered the relapse prevention program with up to 25 online sessions with an online-therapist.

Get.On Mood Enhancer:

The patients are invited to enter their personal information to the secure ProMind website. Afterwards they receive a registration confirmation and can access the treatment platform. There, the client is asked to fill out the screening questionnaire. Within 24 hours, a ProMind employee will provide the client with his individual treatment recommendation. The patient then receives access to the training modules. The training consists of six training modules and 6-7 additional modules.

Duration of cCBT treatment

Duration of cCBT treatment, primary care

Support from professionals

ccVC:

Within the stepped care approach to patient care, the German MasterMind trial offers 1) guided and unguided prevention and self-help intervention through Get.On Mood Enhancer (ProMind) as a first step, then 2) outpatient diagnostics and the option for a subsequent internet- and video-based outpatient treatment “Depression Online” if patients experiencing an increase in symptom severity can find easy access to acute treatment in a (co-operating) day clinic or acute hospital. And 3) the internet- and video-based Relapse Prevention programme after inpatient treatment. Patients can enter the program at any stage. This figure shows the stepped care model of healthcare.

The SCHÖN project team:

Role in project

Management of Schön Clinic MasterMind activities

Specific role in WPs:

In charge of WP5 – Internet based guided cCBT for treatment of depression – 1st wave

Work-package leader of WP 5, first wave cCBT trials and as such responsible for the implementation of cCBT in five participating countries (Germany, Netherlands, Denmark, Norway, UK)

Specific role in WPs:

WP 5 leader

Name: David Daniel Ebert, PhD

Organisation: Schön-Clinic chain

Title: Head of Research and Development at Schön-Clinic chain, Germany. He is also appointed as Assistant Professor (Akademischer Rat) at the Division for Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy at the Friedrich-Alexander University Nuremberg-Erlangen, Germany and head of the working-group eMental Health.

Email: david.daniel.ebert@gmail.com

Expertise relevant to project

Dr. Ebert’s research focuses on the evaluation of internet and mobile based interventions for improving access to evidence based prevention and treatment programs for common mental health disorders. He has received his PhD in Psychology in 2013 from the Philipps-University of Marburg, Germany with special honors (summa cum laude). Together with his team he has developed nine different internet-interventions including interventions for subclinical depression, major depression, depression and diabetes, relapse prevention, panic disorder, work-related stress, insomnia and for improving emotion regulation skills. The efficacy and cost-effectiveness of these interventions have been or are currently being evaluated in 19 randomized controlled trials. He is member of the board of directors of the European Society for Research on Internet Interventions and member of the editorial board of the Journal “Internet-Interventions” published by Elsevier. In recognition of his achievements, he has recently received several awards such as the “DGVT-Förderpreis” by the German society for behavior therapy [DGVT], and the Early Career Researcher Award by the International Society for Research on Internet Interventions (ISRII).

Role in project

Concept, implementation and conduct of cCBT and Video Conferencing at the Schoen Clinic.Specific role in WPs:

MSc in Psychology, specialized in Psychotherapy Research and Methods.
Experience in several multi-center randomized control trials. Currently person in charge of an internet-based relapse prevention after inpatient treatment of major depressive disorder at the Schön Clinic.

Role in projectAdministrative duties withing WP5 such as logistics, coordination and collaboration as well as finacial administrationSpecific role in WPs:Administrative assistant within WP5 at the Schön Clinic

Name: Stefanie Schiller

Organisation: Schön Clinic Bad Arolsen

Title: Administration

Email: SSchiller@schoen-kliniken.de

Expertise relevant to project:

Working in the Schön Clinic Bad Arolsen since 1994. As the assistant of the clinic head, Stefanie Schiller can handle MasterMind tasks within a narrow time frame.

Role in project

Part of the project management team. In charge of communication and dissemination activities.